#472: Iran war ripples, women's shelter, trash tax, Brewdog done

Poverty up 😞

Maurice Frank

Mar 03, 2026

Hey 20 Percent,

The effects of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in the Middle East are being felt in Berlin:

Thousands demonstrated against the Iranian regime at the Brandenburg Gate.
At the Imam-Rıza Shi'ite mosque in Neukölln, 100 people mourned the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday.
Around 30,000 German travellers are thought to be stranded in the Middle East, including Reinickendorf district councillor Norbert Raeder, who’s stuck with 2,000 other tourists on a German cruise ship anchored in Abu Dhabi. Most flights to Israel and the Gulf region are cancelled.
The ITB tourism fair opens in Berlin today. Israel cancelled its participation last week.
The Israeli government plane “Wings of Zion”, the equivalent of Air Force One, arrived at BER Airport on Monday — and is being parked their for “safety reasons”.

We’ll keep you updated. More news below!

Maurice

New shelter for women facing violence

The city government announced last week that it had opened its ninth women’s shelter, a refuge where women and children facing domestic violence can live safely. The residence, located in southern Berlin, provides space for 26 families in 10 apartments, bringing the number of beds in such shelters across Berlin up to 859. Info in English and other languages about support and resources available to women facing violence.

Trash tax

Potsdam, like Berlin, faces a plague of garbage in its green spaces. And so the Brandeburg city to our southwest says it will introduce a municipal packaging tax on single-use items like cups, plates, bowls, and plastic cutlery with the intention of reducing litter and encouraging reusable alternatives. The tax will be 50 cents per cup, plate, or bowl, and 20 cents for plastic cutlery and is projected to raise €1.2 million for the city per year. But will it work? Would you switch to a reusuable coffee cup to save 50 cents? And how do you package a döner in resuable materials? I’m skeptical.

Brewdog done with Deutschland

Scottish craft brewer Brewdog is packing its bags and leaving Berlin and the country. The company’s German subsidiary is insolvent - and its Berlin locations are shutting down. Their bar in Friedrichshain already closed its doors, with Brewdog Mitte and the Brewdog beer garden and brewery in Mariendorf (where previously US brewer Stone also failed) to follow. According to the BBC, the liquidation of the German arm of Brewdog is part of the founders’ plan to sell the enterprise.

sponsored

Still searching for a flat the old-fashioned way?

Get The Flat takes over your apartment hunt from start to finish. They find matching listings, send tailored applications, and request viewings for you — consistently and quickly.
The service costs 79€ / month and includes a money-back guarantee. If you’re serious about finding a long-term flat, this might be the smartest way to do it.

Give it a try >>

Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin

🎸 Belle and Sebastian
Thu-Fri, -05-06.03, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm. Metropol, Nollendorfplatz 5. €55.50
Two nights performing their 1996 albums in full for the first time: Tigermilk on Thursday, If You're Feeling Sinister on Friday. Thirty years on, Murdoch's melancholy and melodic optimism remain unmatched. Plus fan favourites.

👧🏽 Not A Typical Persian Girl — Atoosa Farahmand & Oscar Hagberg
Opening: Friday, 06.03, 7 - 10 pm. Alpha Nova & Galerie Futura, Am Flutgraben 3, Kreuzberg.
Iranian-Swedish duo focuses on the lived realities of women and girls in Iran — between state repression and resistance.

🏃‍♀️International Women+'s Day Protest Run
Saturday, 07.03, meet 5:30 pm, run 6 pm. Club Athleten, RAW Gelände, Friedrichshain. Free
6 km demonstration run through Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg on IWD eve. Low-impact 3.5 km option. Self-defense session before, community discussion after. Open to all paces and levels.

🪩PuMp Berlin hosted by Anja Schneider w/ Elisa Elisa
Saturday, 07.03, 4 pm – 10 pm. OHM, Mitte. €15
Anja Schneider's daytime rave series at OHM for a pre-IWD edition. She moves from house to techno and back through hidden gems, with Elisa Elisa bringing warm, groove-driven energy to match. Full rave intensity, afternoon format.

🪩OHNE
Sunday, 08.03, 8 am – 8 pm. Secret venue at Schlesisches Tor. Donation-based €8–12
New concept from Giri, Marmor Bar and ÆDEN — a donation-based Sunday afterparty as an alternative to club gentrification. Secret lineup, RSVP only. It's a gamble, but a well-informed one.

🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨

👨‍🦲Merz meets Trump

👨‍🦲Is Merzsplaining what Europe needs?

😑 How extreme is the AfD?

🚨 The German pension trap

Factoid

Income equality is on the up. The proportion of Berliners “at risk of poverty” rose to 18.7% last year — the national average was 16.1%. The “poverty risk quotient” (Armutsgefährdungsquote) is defined by the Federal Statistical Office as the share of the population whose income is below 60% of the median net income of the total population. Since mayor Kai Wegner’s CDU-SPD coalition took office in 2023, an additional 172,000 Berliners have fallen below the poverty risk threshold. Across Germany, about 13.3 million people (16.1%) are at risk of poverty, up from 15.5% the previous year. The most affected groups include single-person households, single parents, the unemployed and retirees.

Thanks for reading!